1 John 3:10-18

10In this way, we can see clearly who are God's children and who are the Devil's children. Anyone who does not live in a way that is good and right does not belong to God. People like that do not love other believers.

11Yes, we must love one another. That is the message which you have heard from the beginning.

12We should not be like Cain. He belonged to Satan and he even killed his brother, Abel. Why did he do that? Cain did bad things and he killed Abel because Abel did things that were right.

13So, my Christian friends, do not be surprised when people who belong to this world hate you.

14We know that we now have new life with God. Death no longer has power over us. We know this because we love our Christian friends. But anyone who does not love other believers is still under the power of death.

15Anyone who hates other believers is like someone who murders other people. You know that a person like that does not have true life with God.

16This is how we know what true love is: Jesus Christ gave his own life on the cross. He died on our behalf. So we too ought to give our lives for other believers.

17When another believer has trouble, we need to be kind to him. Maybe you have all the things that you need to live. If you see another believer who needs things like that, you should help him. If you refuse to be kind to him, it shows that you do not belong to God. You do not love people in the way that God loves them.

18My little children, we should not show love for each other only by what we say. We should also show true love by the things that we do.